Vikki and Gareth discuss what it means to them to be Hummingbirds!

Vikki’s Story

Our CEO & Founder, Vikki Coombes had a weekend at the end of 2014 when through two very different events – the final Lost Lectures and the musical Kinky Boots – she had the message ‘be true to your self’ reinforced loudly and in sparkly boots! And she made the decision it was time to go her own way by setting up her own business… 6 months later Your Bright Horizons was established.

So far Vikki has enjoyed 20 jobs over 5 careers. These have ranged from supermarket operation, waitressing and data entry through to solicitor, probation officer, training manager and management consultant. She has worked globally solving people and organisation challenges for multi-national companies in a wide range of industries – financial services, energy & utilities, pharmaceuticals, high technology, public & voluntary sectors, retail and hospitality. Clients have included BP, HSBC, Astra Zeneca, and Canon to name a few.

Vikki loves learning and has self-funded a wide range of qualifications throughout her life so far. These include two degrees, various courses from Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, qualifying to be a Master Practitioner in NLP and certifying as a coach using mBraining Integrating Techniques (mBIT). Each year she continues to learn and grow, with 2017 being the year she completes her Diploma in Transformational Coaching.

Gareth’s Story

Our COO, Gareth Tuppenney is our exceptional shaper. He came on board with Your Bright Horizons at our inception and is responsible for our digital strategy, marketing and end-to-end sales process.

So far Gareth has enjoyed 18 jobs over 4 careers. These have ranged from waiting, journalism, wholesale news distribution through to customer service, sales, marketing and digital strategy. Industries have covered print, retail, giftware, electronics and financial services. His experience covers both business-to-business and business-to-consumer.

Gareth enjoys learning by doing. This is why he has had such wide ranging jobs. It is why he travels extensively. It is why he is open to saying ‘YES’ to new opportunities. It is why he enjoys meeting new people. Every experience he has is an opportunity to challenge himself so that he continues to learn and grow personally and professionally.

Our experience has been gained through volunteering and working with the following organisations so far:

Your Bright Horizons – Our Story

Gareth graduates

July 1, 1995

Having graduated with his Bachelors degree Gareth took a management role in the wholesale news distribution industry, returning to his hometown for a few years where he pursued his broad interests in many different sports.

Vikki and her Masters

February 1, 1997

Having graduated with her LLB & been admitted to the bar as a Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of NZ Vikki moved into her 14th home in her 7th city and started studying for her Masters degree whilst beginning her 10th job. Over the next 3 years she practiced Human Rights for young people before beginning her second career as a Probation Officer where she trained high risk offenders in cognitive skills.

Gareth moves to London

January 1, 2000

Having spent the previous 18 months travelling through Australasia, the Emirates and the United States Gareth relocated to London to start a new career in customer services in the giftware industry.

Vikki moves across the planet

June 8, 2001

As she grieved the death of her brother Vikki left New Zealand and travelled with her husband through California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada & Panama as she moved to the United Kingdom to live. Upon arrival she found a home in Nottingham and undertook a range of temporary roles whilst deciding upon her next career.

Vikki starts her 3rd career

August 8, 2002

Vikki completed the first of her CIPD courses and gained a role in her new career of Learning & Development that led her to move with her husband to London. She rapidly progressed and was promoted within a year of starting. Her friendships extended across nationalities, ethnicities and religions as her horizons broadened.

Gareth changes direction

March 1, 2003

Gareth took up a role as Sales & Marketing Manager for a SME gift & home accessories in both B2B and B2C based in London with global customers. His work led him to countries such as India, Japan, United States, France and Germany.

Vikki lives in 3 countries in 8 months

February 19, 2004

Vikki completed further CIPD courses and moved to Edinburgh to live. She undertook a range of freelance contracts as she worked to establish herself in a new city in a new country. When her marriage ended she returned to New Zealand for two months before she once again relocated to London.

4th career and 1st open heart for Vikki

February 19, 2007

Having qualified to practitioner level of Neurolinguistic Programming Vikki embedded her new career as a management consultant by working for Accenture. She spent the first 9 months living in Newcastle and developed learning for leadership & management transformation. She ended the year with her first open heart surgery to replace her mitral valve.

Vikki qualifies as NLP Master Practitioner

February 19, 2010

Vikki moved to a niche consultancy at the same time as qualifying to Master Practitioner level of NLP and focusing on a new industry with clients predominantly in Energy & Utilities. This led to her leading global virtual teams, establishing new professional disciplines and travelling to Aberdeen, Stavanger and Baku with her Upstream clients.

African adventures lead to a new career for Gareth

February 19, 2011

Gareth made a complete change and took a year out to travel through the United States, Canada, eastern & southern Africa. During this adventure he decided to move into a new career of e-commerce and digital strategy.

Vikki and Gareth meet

June 17, 2013

Vikki & Gareth met and began the evolution of their relationship that took them on adventures to Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Lanzarote, Cyprus, New Zealand, Borneo, Cotswolds, Brittany and Normandy within their first year.

Gareth moves into his 4th career

September 30, 2013

Gareth began his 4th career as he moved into financial services and large corporate environments as a Digital Marketing Manager. He moved back across London and tried out whole new experiences including ceroc and acting as a sous chef.

Retaining her sanity Vikki travels overland for 3 months

June 11, 2014

Vikki had a dilemma. On one hand she felt a deep need to change her professional direction & on the other she had signed to purchase an off-plan house with at least 12 months wait to get a mortgage. She decided to stay with her employer & requested a 3 month sabbatical to travel through eastern and southern Africa on an overland truck.

Reunion in Mauritius

August 23, 2014

Having enjoyed his summer following the soccer world cup plus various cricket matches and playing lots of golf in Vikki’s absence, Gareth flew to Mauritius to be reunited with her. A fabulous rejuvenating week was spent together where future plans as a couple were agreed.

New home, new direction

August 4, 2015

Vikki & Gareth bought their first house and moved in together. Vikki attended Lost Lectures and Kinky Boots. The decision was made to leave employment and establish her own business.

Your Bright Horizons is born

February 29, 2016

Vikki took leap day at it’s word as she leapt out of employment and launched Your Bright Horizons with the initial intention to ‘just do contracting and make some money’. This failed to take off as planned.

Vikki completes mBraining certification

May 19, 2016

Vikki completed her certification to use mBraining Integrating Techniques in her coaching, received a coaching session from Jeremy Lazarus and consequently had a 1-day breakthrough session with Lisa de Rijk to unleash her personal power. The world began to shift.

Birth of the Hummingbird concept

September 19, 2016

Vikki had her first session with her business mentor, Camilita Nuttall, where she was challenged to develop programmes for the world based on WHO she is rather than what she is. One week, one brainstorming session with Gareth, one inspirational video from Elizabeth Gilbert later and the range of programmes for the Hummingbirds of society was conceptualised.

Vikki joins GroYourBiz Advisory Board

October 19, 2016

Through her connection with Camilita Nuttall, Vikki was chosen to be a member of the UK’s inaugural GroYourBiz Advisory Board for female entrepreneurs. So began monthly meetings to advise, support, challenge and guide the growth of our businesses.

Our first workshops

November 5, 2016

The ‘Nectar Tasting’ 3-hour workshop was launched with 20 Hummingbirds participating in the first 3 sessions. The sharp learning curve of social media interactions was started with the support of New Media Angels and 100s of potential Hummingbirds were reached globally.

Public speaking

December 15, 2016

Having debuted a few weeks before at the Event of Champions, Vikki spoke for the first time at a Global Woman’s Breakfast Club about Your Bright Horizons and our range of programmes for Hummingbirds.

Podcasts and webinars

January 10, 2017

Vikki was interviewed for the Womanar.com podcast “Tuesdays with Tilde” and Your Bright Horizons hosted our first webinars on transforming your career to have one that is both diverse AND successful!

‘Official’ launch party of Your Bright Horizons

April 20, 2017

With Vikki’s mother, Heather, visiting from NZ we decided it was the right time to have a party to celebrate our business. Additional guests flew in from Panama. There was live music by Manontroppo, fabulous food by Deeti and insights shared by our collaborators! A fantastic night had by all.

‘Queen of Hummingbirds’ TV debut!

April 26, 2017

Vikki had the privilege of being the make-over guest on the Chrissy B Show – the only TV show in Europe that focuses on mental health and well-being. Chrissy interviewed Vikki about what it means to be a Hummingbird and the transformation our services are leading to for our clients.

Exploring business potential in NZ

August 16, 2017

We spent 4 weeks exploring the market for coaching and consulting in NZ. Met business people, investors and potential clients. Hosted a successful speaking event titled ‘Beyond Passion to Purpose’ with Suzanne Henwood and Marjo Lips-Wiersma.